The Gulf Time Newspaper One of the finest business newspapers in the UAE brought to you by our professional writers and editors.

  Bloomberg Citigroup Inc, which has been shedding some of its retail operations as part of a global revamp, is in advanced talks with Taiwan’s Fubon Financial Holding Co. for a sale of its mainland China consumer business, people familiar with the matter said. Taipei-based Fubon has emerged as the likeliest buyer after outbidding rivals, and the two lenders are ...

Bloomberg Malaysia kept its benchmark interest rate at a historic low, maintaining support for an economy hit in recent weeks by floods and the fast-spreading Omicron variant. Bank Negara Malaysia held the overnight policy rate at 1.75% at its first monetary policy meeting of the year, as predicted by all 25 economists in a Bloomberg survey. The central bank has ...

  Bloomberg Banks are ramping up or extending efforts to protect their staff and business continuity in Hong Kong as authorities struggle to contain a fifth wave of Covid infections in the city. At Morgan Stanley, non-critical staff in some groups have been told to work from home starting Monday, said a person familiar with decision, who asked not to ...

  Bloomberg US equity futures were mixed while European stocks fall as investors assessed shaky company earnings and the prospect of higher US borrowing costs. Bond yields dropped a second day. The Stoxx Europe 600 Index touched the lowest level in a month weighed by miners, travel and leisure and automakers. Nasdaq 100 contracts underperformed after the tech-heavy gauge entered ...

  Bloomberg Shares of semiconductor companies fall, with the group participating in a widespread late selloff for technology stocks that pushed the Nasdaq 100 Index into correction territory. The Philadelphia Stock Exchange Semiconductor Index falls 3.3%, ending at its lowest since late October. The index has dropped more than 10% thus far this week, which would represent its biggest one-week ...

  Bloomberg Gold trimmed a weekly gain as inflation-adjusted bond yields continued to advance, diminishing the appeal of the non-interest bearing asset. The bullion sunk to a key resistance level as market-based measures of inflation expectations rapidly dropped, raising the real return of Treasuries. A decline in the bond’s nominal yields from a two-year high had helped gold advance earlier ...

  BRUSSELS / WAM At EU level, the share of gross final energy consumption from renewable sources reached 22% in 2020, according to Eurostat, the statistical office of the European Union. This is 2 percentage points (pp) above the target level for 2020, as included in Directive 2009/28/EC on the promotion of the use of energy from renewable sources. This ...

  DUBAI / WAM Emirates Global Aluminium (EGA) on Thursday announced that the company recruited more than 100 UAE nationals in 2021. The average age of the recruits was 24 years old. Almost 1,200 Emiratis now work at EGA. Over 700 of EGA’s Emirati employees are under the age of 35. At the end of 2021, EGA’s in-focus Emiratisation rate ...

  ABU DHABI / WAM Masdar City, the regional home of technology innovation and R&D in Abu Dhabi, and Emirates Development Bank (EDB), a key financial enabler of the country’s economic diversification and industrial transformation agenda, signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) to advance the UAE’s economic diversification agenda. This will be achieved by identifying potential collaboration opportunities across sectors ...

  SHARJAH / WAM The Sharjah Chamber of Commerce and Industry (SCCI) has signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with the European Women Association (EWA) to strengthen trade relations, develop cooperation, and promote investment opportunities available on both sides. The signing came on the sidelines of a delegation visit from the EWA to the SCCI headquarters to learn about the ...